by Gee Jay Coleco
Before we go into the functional features and details, let's check out and compare the user interface of Windows Media Player (WMP) and VLC Media Player. I have provided some screenshots of the two players for our comparison below showing Madagascar 2 movie title:
WMP version 11.0 on Windows Vista
Windows Media Player 12 is under development. An initial test version was demonstrated in October 2008 as part of the upcoming Windows 7 Operating System.
VLC Media Player 1.o.1 on Windows Vista
The cone icon used in VLC is a reference to the traffic cones collected by Ecole Centrale's Networking Students' Association. The cone icon design was changed from a hand drawn low resolution icon to a higher resolution CGI rendered version in 2006, illustrated by Richard Oestad.
-oOo-
I would like to avoid too many technical jargons in comparing the two applications. I myself is a novice on this so I believe it would be better if we try to use simple terms that a typical media player user would generally understand.
Let's try to dissect the discussion into the following parts:
1. Brief history of the media players.
2. Interface
2. Basic controls
3. Features
4. Readable formats for audio, video and streaming.
5. Effectiveness and quality output.
6. Disadvantages
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